T. Falls Council f ills vacant position

The Thompson Falls City Council officially accepted council member Ruth Cheney's resignation on Monday and welcomed a new member. Colleagues expressed their sadness that Cheney decided to step down, but excitedly accepted Hayley Blakney to fill the vacant position. Blakney was the only applicant but was enthusiastic to get involved. She has lived in Thompson Falls for seven years and is a clinical social worker. Blakney said she lives near Cheney. She first became interested in local matters after someone tried to get space for an RV park near her residence. Blakney said she wants to get involved because she wants to contribute to the community where her family lives. She also explained that she is interested in zoning and learning how that works. Blakney is especially intent on representing underprivileged families in the area. "I think it's important for those voices to be heard," said Blakney.

Catherine Schmidt, a field representative with The Trust for Public Land, a group that is working to keep wilderness access open to the public, spoke to the board at last Wednesday's meeting. The trust's focus is on several great swaths of land in the county that were previously owned by Weyerhaeuser, which have been sold to several other companies. The group is trying to obtain a public access easement through much of that land. Such an easement would allow the public to continue accessing the lands for outdoor pursuits. "We want to make sure the city council is also on board," said Schmidt, explaining that they are looking to the communities of the county for letters of support to include with their proposal. Mayor Mark Sheets responded, "Anything we can do to keep land in public hands." Council member Larry Lack said, "If we have a chance, we need to tie those up. If some other investment fund takes them over, we'll lose them, and they will get developed. We absolutely have to do it." The council voted to draft letters of support, and Sheets handed off letters to Schmidt, already typed and printed.

The council also discussed paving streets in the city limits. So far, the sewer and water project workers will take care of repaving the areas that they tear up, but there are numerous other streets in town that need refurbishment as well. The council voted on where to pull the money from to get as much paving done as possible, since in many cases the project paving will only cover half of the street. Unfortunately, to get every street affected fully repaved, it would cost the city nearly $1 million. "We don't have the tax base to do it," said Chelsea Peterson, the city clerk and treasurer. The city's plan is to try to maximize the use of their limited funds for paving. They elected to do about $125,000 of paving. The areas to be paved will include Preston Avenue, Wood Street, Park Street and parts of both Ogden Avenue and Haley Avenue. "We're trying to get as much paving done as possible," said Mayor Sheets. The council elected to pull these funds from the Capital Improvement fund, the Gas Tax fund and the Bridge and Road Safety Accountability Act (BaRSA) fund.